Polaris Industries

The Company

Polaris Industries is an American manufacturer of alternative vehicles including snowmobiles and all terrain vehicles (ATVs). They currently rank as the world’s largest Powersports company and recently expanded into adjacent markets, like motorcycles, commercial and military vehicles. Today, Polaris offers a diverse portfolio of best-in-class brands for on-road, off-road, commercial and government vehicles. For millions of people around the world, Polaris has been synonymous with adventure and passion, in both work and play.

The Challenge

Innovations to consumer mapping and navigation technology are occurring at a faster pace than ever before and similar technologies offered are constantly being compared. Companies struggle to rapidly deploy new features to remain relevant and keep up with consumer demand. Most motorcycle and alternative vehicle riders use portable devices to get around, mainly using self-mounted smartphones for navigation. Many riders do not need to use a specialized GPS unit for navigation and will look for alternatives if their expectations are not met.

So how does Polaris make their products appealing to this group of riders? Ultimately Polaris was challenged with providing a more customized rider experience that would give their consumers a compelling reason to use the installed navigation unit and to create a differentiation in the larger market for their products. Due to the lower price point of their vehicles they also had cost considerations that needed to be addressed. In short, Polaris needed a solution that afforded them more flexibility to deliver on custom features at a lower cost than available legacy mapping and navigation providers.

Comtech’s Approach

Comtech has over a decade of experience delivering OEM-grade navigation solutions to the market. We leverage a proprietary best-in-class engine for routing, map display and search. Our customers are supported by a team with over 100 years of combined experience in navigation databases, navigation engines, traffic servers, and dynamic content. This has allowed Comtech to deliver cutting-edge solutions for major wireless carriers, device OEMs, enterprise customers and the automotive market.

Comtech provides a feature rich navigation and mapping platform with an open ecosystem that can support the required flexibility to develop custom features. Utilizing our patented technologies, we enable the rapid deployment of mapping, search, directions and other Location-Based Services (LBS).

Our white label navigation and OSM-based map solutions deliver a single platform that supports all onboard, off-board and hybrid models. Our platform also remains agnostic to other map providers and related content like traffic and POIs. Additionally, our solutions can also be integrated with a chosen technology partner while retaining control over quality, safety and security.

Special Motorcycle Features

Comtech has developed many features that cater to motorcycle riders. Our navigation engine provides special routing options like fastest, shortest or scenic routes. Waypoint routing enhances the rider’s overall navigation experience by adding multiple stops to a ride for one seamless route. The group ride feature gives users an easy way to keep up with other riders’ whereabouts and status or the ability to follow a lead rider. These unique navigation features are coupled with the ability to have maps available offboard through a cellular connection or as a fully integrated onboard solution.

The Solution

Comtech worked extensively with Polaris to define their unique requirements along with a strategy to deploy the solution that met their go-to-market goals. Polaris is successfully launching a new navigation platform that supports features unique to their customers’ lifestyles. Comtech provided Polaris with the customized platform and the development support to help them build a navigation application for their motorcycles. Polaris is deploying an economical solution that fits within the price point of their vehicles. As they look to expand on this success, they have started to look at leveraging Comtech’s Trusted OpenStreetMaps (TOSM) to replace existing vendors for some of their vehicles. Polaris is continually looking to add new features and Comtech is a true partner to help launch and support these services globally.

Customer Benefits:

  • A flexible platform that supports rapidly evolving needs
  • Customizable, detailed and interactive maps
  • Built-in motorcycle-specific features to shorten goto-market time
  • Access to global support
  • One platform to support onboard, offboard and hybrid use cases
  • Ability to leverage a team with 15+ years of domain expertise
  • Offers a competitive pricing structure

About Us

The Enterprise Technologies group of Comtech Telecommunications Corp. is a leading provider of precise device location, mapping and messaging solutions. Sold around the world to Mobile Network Operators, government agencies and Fortune 150 enterprises, our platforms allow you to locate, map, track and message.

Precise, accurate location solutions customized for your business needs.

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